Phylogeography of Littorina sitkana in the northwestern Pacific Ocean: evidence of eastward trans-Pacific colonization after the Last Glacial Maximum

We investigated genetic diversity and population structure of the Sitka periwinkle Littorina sitkana along the coastlines of the northwestern Pacific (NWP) to evaluate the possibility of trans-Pacific colonization of this species from the NWP to the northeastern Pacific (NEP) after the Last Glacial Maximum. We sampled L. sitkana from 32 populations in the NWP, and sequenced a region of the mitochondrial cytochrome b oxidase gene for population genetic analyses. The results were compared with those of previous reports from the NEP. The genetic diversity of L. sitkana was much higher in the NWP than in the NEP. Genetic connectivity between the NWP and NEP populations was indicated by an extremely abundant haplotype in the NEP that was also present in eastern Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands. To confirm these results, we compared sequences of the longest intron of the aminopeptidase N gene (APN54) in the nuclear genome in four populations of L. sitkana in the NWP with previous results from the NEP. Again, much higher genetic diversity was found in the NWP than in the NEP and genetic connectivity was supported between the Kuril Islands and the NEP. These results imply postglacial colonization of this species from the NWP to the NEP, probably along the Kuril and Aleutian Island chains. This study is the first report of possible trans-Pacific postglacial colonization of a direct-developing gastropod, inferred from genetic data.